Human Exchange Program - boyxboy (Incomplete)

Ch.14 Ceremony

My hands would not stop shaking. The day had come and Usari and I would be united. The wedding approached so quickly, it seemed it took only a matter of days to plan. I didn't have much of a role in most of it. Apparently, anabas have a small ceremony and then move on with their lives. Very simple. Except this was a royal's ceremony which I figured would make things much more complex.

After the announcement of our wedding, we began receiving letters from people we hardly knew or that I had never met. They all wanted to come. At first I thought it was nice that so many people wanted to come, but Usari became rather annoyed. I say 'rather annoyed,' but he was rather pissed. To prevent Usari from possibly murdering someone, I asked Maska to stop giving him the letters. It solved that problem but Uari brought up another concern he had. He was insistent that the ceremony contain elements from the kind of wedding I would have had on Earth. I didn't want to make things weird or complicated, but of course, Usari would not rest until I added my own impute.

I finally just told him that we should have a honeymoon, or something. Of course, he had no idea what that was. After explaining it to him, he was a little too excited about the idea. Usari planed out an entire trip for us and when I asked him where we were going he just said, "It will be a surprise." which frightened me slightly, but I put my faith in him.

Then the day finally came. And I was not prepared in the slightest. Servants had been running about and I was dressed and groomed as though I could do nothing myself. By the time they had finished dressing me...I really couldn't do anything myself. The garments were heavy and uncomfortable, but I wore it without a complaint, after all, Usari had to wear them as well. It was beautiful, though, like most of the clothes I was given. It wasn't overly decorated but the fabric reminded me of ice when the light hit it. They also adorned my hair with a silver ring which didn't keep several of my curls from falling forward onto my forehead.

I was finally left alone, for just a moment. I put my necklace back on since one of the men helping me dress insisted that I take it off and rather than argue, I removed it temporarily. I just wanted to crawl under my covers and hide, but that would have messed up my hair and perfectly arranged outfit. I thought back to the first play I had ever been in as a kid. I thought the entire world was watching me when really it was just a few of my friend's parents and teachers. I had that same feeling again, except I wasn't on Earth and I didn't have memorized lines this time. I jerked at the sudden squeak of the door opening. Usari peaked his head in and entered without a word. There was a woman behind him digging through a box and pulling out one piece of jewelry after another. Usari looked like a piece of art, and though large as he was, he seemed delicate and ready to break at any moment. The woman added several more arm cuffs to Usari, which were covered up by his sleeves, before she left.

Usari didn't say a word. It occurred to me that he might actually be more afraid than me. I stepped closer to him and reached my hand out, running my fingers through his swept back hair, trying not to pull on any of the adornments that covered him. The edges of his lips turned upwards in a small smile. "How are you holding up?" I asked him.

"I am heavy. Really heavy. I do believe that I am wearing my body weight in jewels and metals." Usari said, knitting his eyebrows together. I laughed a bit before we returned to silence. "You look nice." he choked out.

"Oh, uh...thanks. You do, too! I like your hair like that." I said.

"Really? Perhaps I'll wear it like this again." Back to silence.

The two of us were supposed to wait until Maska came to get us for the actual ceremony. We were to have it in the palace garden and only a handful of people, many of which were Usari's relatives and family friends, had been invited to come, though, of course, word would spread and details would be shared later. There would also be a feast of some sorts after the ceremony where many more would be allowed to attend.

What was only minutes felt like hours until Maska finally told us that everyone was waiting. Usari and I made our way to the garden hand in hand. Everyone waited around a large cushion which Usari and I stood behind. Wetam stepped forward and gave a traditional speech in his native tongue. I understood every few words or so and was thankful that I was not required to respond to anything. After speaking, Usari's family, most of which I had not yet met, lined up. Usari and I knelt carefully onto the cushion before us trying to be as graceful as we could. We both held one of our hands out and heads bowed. His family walked past us and each touched their own hands to our as a sign of acceptance.

That was literally the entire ceremony! Normally, of course, there would be two families that would gather so the ceremony was a little shorter than the usual, but still! I mentally kicked myself a little for getting so nervous. As I would find out later, most of the effort was put into the feast that came afterwards where we would be in the public eye.

After the ceremony, Usari and I sat with his family and I talked to many of them for the first time. Wetam and Fawyet had run off to oversee the preparations for dinner. Only a few of them could speak English so there was a slight language barrier, yet I was still able to learn most of their names. An elderly anaba woman introduced herself in rather broken English saying that her name was Taigam. She just smiled at me widely and I returned the smile, though not sure why we were just smiling. Usari chuckled a bit and leaned down to tell me that she was his grandmother, Fawyet's mother. I attempted to introduce myself in her language which apparently gave her the idea that I could understand Anaba and she began telling me a story. I just smiled and nodded occasionally until Usari interrupted our one sided conversation. "I think she likes you." he said.

Maska entered the garden where we had all been conversing. The food was ready and we were all to get a seat before the other guest were allowed in. Usari and I, of course, sat next to each other at the gigantic table. The entire thing was mainly for show and Usari and I were just decorations sitting stiffly in the increasingly uncomfortable clothing that we had been wearing since that afternoon. As we ate, many gave their best wishes and congrats to us but there wasn't a whole lot of deep conversation. As hungry as I was, I didn't really want to eat with all of those unfamiliar faces around. Usari didn't eat much either, but looked composed in his conversations, he had been to quite a few banquets in his lifetime I suppose.

The food just kept coming and coming and it was a long while before people began to leave, and of course, Usari and I were expected to stay until the last guest had left, which took awhile. Needless to say, it was dark when the final guest left. Usari loosened his robe and I reached out and stretched a bit. At the other end of the table, Wetam, gulped down the drinks that he had pretended were not there during the banquet. Irasu rose, smiling and then nodding at her brother before leaving, never once making eye contact with me.

Usari stood, suddenly remembering something. "The trip! I almost forgot!" he said. "It is already so late. You did pack already, correct?"

I nodded, "We could always leave in the morning since it's-"

"No, we have to go today! I already planned it." Usari interrupted.

"There aren't any rules for honeymoons." I sighed knowing that it was useless to argue with him once he had his mind made up. "Lead the way!"

Fawyet, still alert as ever, smiled at us as we stood up from the table. "You two have fun." Wetam, who continued to drink just kind of nodded before pointing at the pattern of Fawyet's robe and giving his opinion on it. He was thankfully too long gone for the evening to give me any kind of a lecture.

I followed  behind Usari to the vehicle in front of the palace where Maska was loading our bags for us. We'd be gone for a week, yet I still had no idea where. I climbed into the back of the vehicle with Usari, undoing my robe slightly so that I would be comfortable for the ride ahead. 

A/N: For those of you wondering, I did indeed die. This update is coming straight from hell! In all seriousness though, I got really, really busy and for some reason couldn't figure out what to write in this chapter (writers block). SO TWO MONTHS LATER...here you go! I'm really, really, really sorry about taking so long, but I finally got a break this week so I started writing some more. I promise that the next update won't take this long, in fact I might update again this week just to make up for the long pause! And to those of you who have been waiting for this update, know that I love you..a lot...go ahead and leave a comment telling me how shitty I am! Cause I love you dearly! :3